[Sweden] Transgender belly dancer helps launch Arab gay initiativeAs a human rights group publishes details of a bloody campaign of hate being waged against gays in Iraq, Rami Abdelrahman speaks to members of a recently founded initiative for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender Arabs in Sweden.

The Hawalli police have arrested an unidentified Kuwaiti cross dresser. [USA] [Commentary] Crime and punishment?Forty one years after the first hate crime legislation was passed, and 11 years after Matthew Shepard’s brutal murder, the U.S. Congress is poised to pass hate crime legislation. It’s the Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act (generally referred to as the Matthew Shepard Act) and the Senate version of the bill has been incorporated into a defense reauthorization bill. The House has already passed its version and it may well have gone for a vote before the Senate by the date of this publication.[USA] [Blog/News] Employer Says: Transgender? I Need To See Your GenitaliaSalt Lake City resident Candice Metzler chose to be open about being transgender and it cost her a job, and eventually the home in which she lived.

[NY, USA] [Blog/News] Murderer of Transwoman Gets the Maximum SentenceThe man who murdered Lateisha Green was sentenced to the maximum allowed under New Yorklaw for manslaughter. Dwight DeLee will spend the next 25 years in prison for manslaughter charge plus another five years for a hate crime.[CA, USA] [Film/Events]

San Francisco's Transgender Film Festival seeks entries for its 2009 Festival, November 6th and 7th. The festival accepts narrative, documentary, experimental, animated films and music videos. All work should be created by transgender/genderqueer people. All work submitted this year must be 10 minutes or under![Perú] ILGA lanza campaña internacional pro derechos transexuales